Archive for March, 2010

Ok folks what is about to follow is my personal opinion on the first semi final round up in a section I’m referring to as ‘That’s how Stephen C’s it’. I’m not a Glee fan honest I’m not (he says screaming into the void of cyberspace).

MOLDOVA-Runaway

Electric violins, saxophones, a singer who resembles Kate Ryan (always a good thing) but most importantly a dance beat which is a rare occurrence amongst this year’s finalists. Is it a winner? No. Could it be improved? Yes, by loosing the male vocalist.

RUSSIA-Lost and forgotten

Its very apparent Russia doesn’t want the gays back this year with this awful tedious song that isn’t helped by a singer who sounds tone deaf. It’s almost like they plucked a group of homeless off the street and let them loose. Could it be improved? Only by giving us another entry, Dima Bilan anyone! This one will remain lost and forgotten.

ESTONIA-Siren

‘Siren in my head’ gave me a pain in mine. It has some merit, I’m almost sure it does. Singer Malcolm Lincoln has a voice more suited to indie rock than the Eurovision stage. Is it a winner? Only if you want to suffer from continuous Migraines every time it plays.

SLOVAKIA-Horehronie

There is something quite charming about this song it’s traditional merged with an up-tempo beat. This could easily get out of the semi-finals if Kristina’s vocal is strong on the night. I do think the male dancers dance much to fast for the pace of the song. It’s like they are having epileptic fits while she stands serenely amongst them.

FINLAND-Tyolki Ellaa

Well the Eurovision won’t be in Finland in 2011. I’m all for traditional songs but this sounds like a lot of nothing strung together and preformed by two pretty blondes. Who cares! I’m also beginning to notice violins are featuring more this year, anyone ever heard the phrase once bitten twice shy. Be original people.

LATVIA-What for?

This could be a winner, I wonder what shopping is like in Riga. Once singer Aisha doesn’t try to act the song like she does in the video then it could do Latvia proud.

SERBIA-Ovo Je Balkan

Who wants to get in line to cut his fringe? Times must be tough that he can’t afford a hairdresser and puts a bowl over his head instead. What was with his stage make up, if he was short he could have auditioned for a role in Willy Wonka. I really don’t know what to say about the song only it will always remain on skip on my I pod.

BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA-Thunder and lightening

I like the song and I like the singer but separately. Together I don’t see a mesh. He gets swallowed up by the rock music. I’d like to see this in the final and with the selection so far it’s a distinct possibility.

POLAND-Legenda

Poland, Poland, Poland, tut, tut, tut. I’m usually a fan of the Polish entries, loved Isis Gee, Kasia Kowalska and of course the unconquerable Edyta Gorniak and I can almost see the method behind the madness of this song but in the end twas the madness was the clear winner. Pity cause the backing music was quite sweet.

BELGIUM-Me and my guitar

I adore this entry, he has one of the strongest vocals in the competition and he is super cute. Is it a Eurovision winner? Unfortunately I don’t think so but I am definitely going to be looking for Tom Dice’s CD’s in the future.

MALTA-My Dream

“It’s my time, it’s my time” ooops sorry wrong song how could I have confused them! Malta has sent us numerous ballads over the years and they have all been relatively good entries but not winners. ‘My Dream’ is no exception. Thea Garrett is a lovely singer and has a look of Liza Minnelli but the song smacks of Englands entry ‘it’s my time’ and ultimately fails to satisfy.

ALBANIA-It’s all about you

Juliana reminds me of American singer Jewel, the song is catchy, the video has some amazing imagery but it still remains a middle of the road pop song and I would find it hard to imagine it winning, still an effort to be proud of from Albania.

GREECE-OPA

OPA should really be renamed OTT, hunks in leather can’t make this pale imitation of Ruslana’s ‘Wild dance’ shine. This entry goes ‘woo pa’ all the way to the bargin bin.

PORTUGAL-Ha Dias Assim

I will be the first to raise my hand and say Portugal’s previous Euro entries never leave any sort of impression on me. This year however an enchanting ballad sung by the beautiful Filipa Azevedo has an edge on quite a lot of the other ballad style entries. This is definitely one to watch out for.

FYR MACEDONIA-Jas ja imam silata

Its okay, I can visualise it growing on me but then again I could just as easily skip it. Rock songs however are few and far between this year so that could make it stand out of the crowd.

BELARUS-Butterflys

I love the song I believe it could win however it would stand a much better chance if they reverted back to their native language. The main male singer’s pronunciation of English lets the song down.

ICELAND-Je ne sais quai

Didn’t Kylie Minogue have a song with a similar title? I love Iceland, they never fail me and once again they have produced a great dance song backed by a powerful singer who looks like Carola. Love love love.

So to conclude on my round up of the first semi final, the ten songs I hope will get through to the final are…

Course if Russia, Estonia, Finland, Serbia, Poland, Macedonia and Greece get through Ireland stands a much better chance of doing well and that folks is how Stephen C’s it. Join me tomorrow for the second semi final annihilation and those elusive five countries. I think its time for a song. ‘Money talks but it don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk la di dum di…

In 2004 Shirley Clamp burst onto our scenes in Melodifestivalen 2004, this being her second appearance, and the foxy little minx managed to have an instant schlager classic with “Min Kärlek“. But nothing could stop the Lena Ph train that year and poor Shirley only came second. She has since been in the 2005 and 2009 contests but has failed to live up to her success of 2004. She was part of the MF interval act this year though. Go on Shirley girl, belt out those notes

With all the latest updates to the songs how has this changed the overall betting odds? Well Azerbaijan is still number one but Germany has jumped to #2 along with Israel, Denmark has gone up a few spaces as well to number 3, and Niamh is climbing away currently 8th favourite to win. Looks like they have as much confidence in Russia as we do here. It will be interesting to see where all the neighbouring votes go if Russia isn’t there to soak them up.

The first (we hope) in a set of tribute acts, local legend and Ireland’s very own Verka Serduchka,Sheila Fitzpatrick does a wonderful version of Niamh Kavanagh’s “It’s For You”. Sheila is a huge supporter of the Eurovision and is particularly famous for his Malena Ernman impressions Better yet, it’s gotten the official royal approval, Niamh loves it.

The second semi-final will take place in Oslo on 27 May 2010. This is such much so the stronger Semi-Final and features our very own Ireland, and the current bookies favourite Azerbaijan and Israel. definite no qualifiers would be Slovenia and Bulgaria methinks. Definite qualifiers are Turkey, Sweden, Ireland, Denmark, Azerbaijan, Israel and Croatia.

The UK, France and Norway will be voting in this semi-final as well so it looks good for Niamh.

What a name. What a song. Angelica Angrybush – sorry, Agurbash – came, saw, and sang horribly in the 2005 semifinal. Pity, because it’s a great uptempo stomper! She came in 13th in the semifinal for Belarus in their second Eurovision.

She’s a former model who won the very first Miss Belarus competition. What is unusual about this entry is that it is a different song to the one she won the Belarussian final with. That song, a rock ballad, didn’t go down well across Europe so the Belarussian delegation searched for a replacement song. And this is what they came up with. It got a much better reception; so much so it was one of the pre-show favourites. The utterly fabulous dress change made it a visual spectacle. Angelica’s voice made it a vocal horror (although to be fair she sang well enough until the final few bars). Ah well, it’s still one of my favourites!

While technically this isn’t a usual collaboration it deserves a mention for several reasons. The song is a charity song to raise funds for the fight against Aids. Amongst the various artists performing are Lara Fabian and Natasha St Pier both of whom are Eurovision Alumni. The song also features Daniel Powter, Bob Sinclar and Anggun amongst others. No one does various artist collaborations quite like the French, egos are pushed aside and it becomes all about the charity. Special mention must go to the annual Les Enfoires. The song is sung in both English and French and is quite good.